He injured his left knee during a drill early in practice and did not return. Like Milliner, he will undergo an MRI examination Sunday, according to coach Rex Ryan, who said he was not sure about the severity of either player’s injury.

McDougle’s injury happened during a one-on-one drill during which wide receivers matched up with cornerbacks and tried to catch lobbed jump-ball passes in the corner of the end zone. Stephen Hill made a grab over McDougle, who immediately fell to the ground. McDougle cursed and threw his helmet off in frustration as he lied on his back.

Receiver David Nelson and corner Darrin Walls both came over to McDougle and held his hand, offering support as a trainer examined McDougle’s left knee. Hill also stood nearby and monitored McDougle’s situation.

Ryan eventually came over and checked on McDougle, who missed all but three games last season at Maryland because of a serious shoulder injury. McDougle felt so excited about debuting in last Thursday night’s preseason opener against the Colts that his eyes welled with tears of joy during pregame warm-ups.

Ryan said McDougle’s cleat got caught as he came down, and that he felt “a sharp pain.” McDougle was able to get up and walk off the field under his own power, without any support from trainers. General manager John Idzik walked alongside McDougle as he went to the sideline. McDougle later left the practice area altogether with a trainer.

Initially, Ryan said, he was “encouraged a little bit” by seeing McDougle walk off without any assistance. But then Ryan remembered that this is not always the best marker of whether a player has suffered a serious injury or not.

“Sometimes, guys will walk off and they’ll have injuries,” Ryan said. “Sometimes not. You realize when a guy does walk off, sometimes that’s not necessarily a true indicator.”

When Ryan went over to check on McDougle, he listened as McDougle reacted to what had just happened – so soon after McDougle had just completed his return from the shoulder injury.

“I know he was like, ‘Oh, you’ve got to be kidding,’” Ryan said.

Milliner and journeyman Dimitri Patterson are listed as the Jets’ starting corners, with Kyle Wilson and McDougle listed as the backups. Wilson is the Jets’ primary slot corner.

Patterson has missed the past two practices with a nagging calf/ankle injury. On Saturday, that meant McDougle got more first-team snaps than he had in any previous camp practice, though the Jets had been sporadically rotating him in with the starters. McDougle played only with the backups against the Colts. After Saturday’s practice, Ryan said he wanted to see McDougle get in better shape and lose some weight.

“I think once he does that, the kid’s got a heck of a chance,” Ryan said.

The injuries to Milliner and McDougle – and Patterson’s continued absence – could mean more first-team practice time for Darrin Walls and Ellis Lankster. They worked with the starters after Milliner and McDougle exited Sunday’s practice.

The secondary was already one of the Jets’ biggest question marks. With their two starting corners and a top backup now sidelined -- at least for the immediate future (and McDougle probably for the year) -- those question marks will grow even larger.

The Jets must now hope Milliner's ankle injury is not serious, and that Patterson can recover from his calf/ankle pain in time for the regular season. That would keep their starting cornerback pairing intact, even as the position's depth suffered a blow with McDougle's torn ACL.